Riff Tone

Disposable Heroes

Metallica

Guitarmetal1980s

Original Gear

Guitar1984 Gibson Explorer (white, stock pickups at time of recording)

AmpMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ head (used as preamp) into Marshall JCM800 100-watt power amp, 4x12 Marshall cabinets

PickupsGibson Dirty Fingers humbuckers (stock, passive, ceramic magnets)

Amp Settings

gain8.5

bass6

mid3

treble7.5

reverb0

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1985-1986. Rhythm guitars for 'Disposable Heroes' riff section were performed by James Hetfield using his white Gibson Explorer into a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (preamp only) into a Marshall JCM800 power amp, with no distortion pedals. A studio parametric EQ (Aphex EQF-2) was inserted in the amp's effects loop for additional tone shaping. No time-based or modulation effects were used on the rhythm tracks. All rhythm guitars on Master of Puppets were tracked by Hetfield, not Hammett.

Tone Character(10)

tight and percussivescooped midshigh-gain saturationrazor-sharp attackdry and immediateaggressive palm mutingarticulate rhythmminimal ambiencecrushing metallic crunchmachine-gun riffing

Difficulty

The riff section of 'Disposable Heroes' is highly demanding due to its fast tempo, relentless down-picking, and intricate, tightly synchronized palm-muted patterns, requiring advanced stamina and precision.

Sources

How Flemming Rasmussen produced Metallica’s classic Master Of Puppets | MusicRadar Metallica – Master of Puppets (Remastered) - Gear & Equipment Used on the Album | Equipboard The making of Metallica's Master Of Puppets | MusicRadar

This tone has been researched 11 times by the community

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